FRESHKILLS: Creeps and Lovers

Freshkills

Creeps and Lovers

© 2006 Arclight Records (733792663527)

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Freshkills take that New York sound and darken it, stretch it,deepen it, and make it actually rock out even more.

notes

Since their formation in 2004, New York’s Freshkills have become a formidable name in avant-hardcore from coast to coast. Their caustic combination of deadpan wit and an unrelenting barrage of heavy rhythms and immediate hooks is delivered with style and swagger both on their new
album and in their live shows.

In the summer of 2004, Freshkills toured the west coast and southwest with popular hardcore band The Plot to Blow Up The Eiffel Tower to the acclaim of critics and fans. In the meantime, Freshkills have returned to their home base in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and continue to deliver crowd-thrilling and unpredictable live shows with such national acts such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Blond Redhead, Fiery Furnaces, TV on the Radio and Diamond Nights - in venues across the Atlantic Northeast.

In 2005, Freshkills recorded at Williamsburg’s Studio G with Joel Hamilton (Frank Black, Unsane, Tom Waits). Lead singer Zachary Lipez’s strange (and strangely beautiful) lyrics are showcased perfectly against Tim Murray’s elegantly sparse rhythm guitar, but his convulsive delivery and Johnny Raubert’s frenzied lead keep the overall effect from approaching anything you’d put your kids to sleep with. In their catchiest song, “Hands Up,” Johnny’s back-up vocals could put a choir of schoolgirls to shame, while the colossal rhythm section of Bill Miller and Jim Paradise
(bass and drums, respectively) would send them home crying. While the Freshkills’ sound is often compared to such acts as Nation of Ulysses, Fugazi, At The Drive-In, and Drive Like Jehu, bands known for their intelligence and inventiveness, it is their raw power and drunken honesty
that makes them a great band.

reviews

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  • The album immediately hooks you with a clean sound and frantic pace
    author: Lucid Forge Magazine

    Calling yourself the Freshkills is usually an indication that you might be taking yourself too seriously; a fatal mistake that a lot of post-punk gothic bands make in an effort to get themselves taken seriously by others. It's hard to stop yourself from rocking along with Freshkills, and most importantly, you don't want to know how to stop rocking to them. The album immediately hooks you with a clean sound and frantic pace. Sure the lyrics are often indecipherable, but the band is the thing here anyway. While the song lyrics have a playful tone, it's the voice of Zachary Lipez, not the words of the songs, that your listening to. The real stars of this effort though are band members Bill Miller, Tim Murray, Jim Paradise and Johnny Roberts; it's their hooks and driving beats that sell this thing.

  • This Brooklyn Quintet is the shit
    author: Ghetto Blaster Magazine

    Creeps and Lovers…I didn't expect this, really I didn't. the Freshkills have released their debut long player and it slams the competition into the ground! Where have they been all this time? Oh, my mistake, they've been touring, recording, playing locally. My mistake. I do remember listening to their self-titled EP which didn't show the prom-ise n of the band as Creeps and Lovers does. It's filled with angst, it's brimming with tur-moil and anger while keeping hold of a hip swaggering shake. How do I know all this?I went to their website and caught a live performance. This Brooklyn Quintet is the shit.

  • Hey you stupid idiot, here is Drive Like Jehu, Jesus Lizard, and Nation of Ulyss
    author: Vice Magazine

    Hours of practice, a dedication to songwriting, and a sizeable budget. These are all things that are less important to a good record than having a cool older brother - someone to break your Collective Soul tapes over your stupid head, as the older brothers of the Freshkills clearly did, and say "Hey you stupid idiot, here is Drive Like Jehu, Jesus Lizard, and Nation of Ulysses. Now quit being such a herb".

  • Definitely one of the more intriguing bands I’ve heard in recent memory
    author: The Swede - Culture Bunker

    The strange, dark, and insistent sound of the Fresh Kills recalls bands like Drive Like Jehu, Nation of Ulysses, Dirtclod Fight, and other innovators of grim sound and damaged rhythms. The math rock elements are there but it’s still listenable through a clever mix of alternating chaos and structure. They throw off your equilibrium with tightly executed jerking rhythms until you’re weaving across the deck like a drunken sailor and then drop into driving pounding breaks that pull you back from the railing just before you fall overboard. There’s a bit of noise farming here and there but never for its own sake and they weave a balance between grim discord, desperate vocals, and a sort of fucked up pop sensibility that inexplicably works. I’ve always been a fan of bright yet jagged bass tones bands like No Means No or Drive Like Jehu champion and that was definitely part of the personal attraction. Always interesting and determinedly unpretty and aggressive bursts keep your attention and on your toes anticipating the next curve or abrupt turn, like driving late at night in a fast car with no headlights on. There’s a sort of gripping dark element here that seems to be symptomatic of making music in the claustrophobic urban decay of New York which is summed up appropriately enough in the sound and lyrics of their song “We Live in The City” and is evident in the songs of other New York bands like early Boss Hog or The Hells. The Fresh Kills may turn off those with more sensitive leanings I found myself drawn into the dark soup of their sound and liked its somewhat bitter flavor. Definitely one of the more intriguing bands I’ve heard in recent memory with similarities to past favorites. 8 out of 11. --The Swede

  • A Drive Like Jehu for a generation that never experienced one
    author: Blunt Magazine

    A Drive Like Jehu for a generation that never experienced one, New York's Fresh Kills dot their sound with traces of pop punk, noise, post-hardcore, goth and gutter rock. From New York, they have been compared to The Liars, but to me they sound like they'd listen to more Interpol and Birthday Party. With a decent ear for melody, good grooves, and an ingrained knowledge of rock, they offer the perfect amount of variety without losing focus. Some might accuse them of all-too-conveniently popping up with just the right sound at just the right time, but if more little eyeliner kids opened their minds to bands like Fresh Kills instead of whatever some magazine or webzine or online banner advertisement is promoting, the world just might be a better place.

  • Freshkills have honed their skills to create straight-up, trashed-out, catastrop
    author: Exclaim! by Liz Worth

    Freshkills have honed their skills to create straight-up, trashed-out, catastrophic songs. This young New York five-piece are strikingly stripped down on these nine tracks. The title track starts it all off with its high-tension stylings that sound soaked in amphetamine fuelled inspiration. Each moment of this album pulsates and shifts under its own weight, as if the music is trying to break out of its tight skin. This band have tapped into an energy that many can only emulate, not originate. Although song titles like “Hot Ex-Wife Action” and “Is There Enough Cocaine in the World to Make You Care About Me?” might give the impression that there isn’t much more going on here than a few jokes. But once the first chord is struck here it becomes obvious that they aren’t a band you want to ignore. Recorded and mixed by Joel Hamilton (Tom Waits, Frank Black), Creeps and Lovers veers and combusts into taut, sharp-edged territories that spit out the best bits of sound.

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